Nichols public report

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Nichols School
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION
OF CERTAIN MISCONDUCT BY FACULTY
WITH STUDENTS*
Laurel Pyke Malson, Esq...

i
Preface to Public Report
This Report is a modified version of the detailed Report of Independent Investigation of
Certai...

ii
Public Report, taken additional steps to remove some details in our recounting of incidents,
which we believe might all...

iii
issues identified by the two alumnae whose letters initiated this investigation, appear in this
Public Report virtuall...

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iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction.......................................................................................

v
FM 2 Victim 1..............................................................................................................

1
Introduction
In May of 2017, Head of School Bill Clough received a letter from a Nichols School
(“Nichols” or “the Schoo...

2
They requested that the School “seriously examine its hidden culture around abuse” and provide
“an opportunity for those...

3
wellness and proper student-adult relationships prior to resumption of the school year.”3
The
letter closed with (curren...

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4
I. Nature and Scope of the Investigation
We understood the scope of our investigation to include the specific allegation...

5
School culture that contributed to the ability of certain faculty members to cross appropriate
professional boundaries w...

6
touch with the School and former schoolmates, and are simply unaware of this investigation.8
While we have made our best...

7
In addition, we reviewed thousands of pages of documents, including the available
personnel files of 29 current and form...

8
II.A., or those whose conduct we describe in Section II.B., but do not name. We believe that the
reports in both Section...

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9
The third category of evidence that we received includes vague reports, and
unsubstantiated rumors – accounts of miscond...

10
back to the School.14
We are grateful to the School and the Board of Trustees for the trust
extended to us in this rega...

11
II. Our Findings
As noted above, our charge was to investigate the particular allegations reported in the
two Alumna Le...

12
guilt, the adult is able to maintain control over the “relationship” and the victim, and thereby
minimize the likelihoo...

13
A. Credible Evidence of Inappropriate Conduct by Specific Faculty Members
We obtained what we believe to be credible fi...

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14
student. A letter19
from Headmaster Richard Bryan indicates that Budington was to be placed on
probationary status duri...

15
In addition to the two students with whom he carried on sexual relationships, Budington
also crossed appropriate profes...

16
among both students and faculty/administrators.22
According to Bryan, shortly after he became
Headmaster in 1994, a fac...

17
‘beautiful;’ and posting photographs of certain female students he finds particularly attractive.”
The senior administr...

18
The School’s Knowledge and Response – AB Victim 1
Interviews with classmates of AB Victim 1 and faculty members reveale...

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19
Although we cannot say with certainty that the School administration was aware of the
sexual nature of Budington’s rela...

20
the same time an inappropriate, though not sexual, relationship with AB Victim 2’s sister
(referred to in this Report a...

21
grade, found AB Victim 2 also sitting in the office. AB Victim 2 did not leave on her own, and
Budington did not ask he...

22
to Budington’s relationship with her sister. AB Reporter stated that she “couldn’t have even
imagined that [AB Victim 2...

23
probably would have said let’s talk about it in a meeting; I’m sure I would have listened.”33
Regarding the office meet...

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24
led this group of friends to believe that AB Victim 2’s “crush” on Budington was being
reciprocated in a sexual way. AB...

25
problem” rather than Budington, and that s/he needed to hush up the rumors rather than
investigate or tell others. S/he...

26
Rockwell did recall hearing a question raised by another teacher about “whether [AB
Victim 2] was spending too much tim...

27
“the girls spending too much time with [Budington].” She stated to us that, at the time, she did
not see how this latte...

28
regarding AB Victims 2 and 3 spending “too much time” with Budington, AB Victim 3’s
emotional state, and the “closeness...

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29
that Budington was engaged in a sexual relationship with AB Victim 2. The concern expressed
to Rockwell, according to A...

30
Budington’s misconduct.41
Nonetheless, because neither appears to have addressed the issue
directly by any further inqu...

31
AB Victim 3 also suffered from depression and anxiety during her senior year at Nichols,
which she, her family, and Bud...

32
Rockwell.43
See description of meeting under AB Victim 2, above. After a discussion of AB
Victim 3’s possible depressio...

33
Budington to “help her out.” AB Victim 3 also reported that later that spring, because “rumors
[about her, Budington, a...

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34
in contributing to AB Victim 3’s emotional turmoil, given the information available to them. As
noted above, Bryan’s an...

35
Knowledge and Response which were not reasonably segregable from potentially identifying
information.
The School’s Know...

36
According to contemporaneous notes from meetings between Bryan and Budington,
Budington acknowledged that much of the a...

37
institution.47
Budington reported that he was not on the faculty at Phillips Exeter, although he
and his wife served as...

38
E. Webster Dann
E. Webster (“Web”) Dann was a graduate of Nichols School and part of a prominent
Buffalo family with ma...

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39
male, at least one female student also reported having a “special friendship” with Dann, which
made her “feel seen and ...

40
The sexual relationship began one afternoon when WD Victim 1 was visiting Dann at his home.
WD Victim 1 reported that, ...

41
stay away from Dann. WD Victim 1 told Dann about the encounter and Dann said “maybe you
shouldn’t come here anymore.” W...

42
were not reasonably segregable from potentially identifying information regarding WD Victims
2 and 3.
WD Victim 4
WD Vi...

43
together, Dann bought pornography for him, they looked at it together, and then he “got to take it
home.”
At the time, ...

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44
inappropriate friendship with Dann, and to act as a “cover” for Dann’s interest in that male
classmate.
WD Victim 5 rep...

45
2. That we will continue to be good friends.
3. That you appreciate what I have tried to do for you this year, and that...

46
The School’s Knowledge and Response – WD Victims 1-6
We found no indication that teachers or administrators at the Scho...

47
around a bunch of young boys than adults . . . [a] creepy Peter Pan kind of thing,” whose “need
to be loved” led him to...

48
We believe that Dann’s ability to cross appropriate professional boundaries with students
without intervention by the S...

49
Julie Jones
Julie Jones was an Upper School science teacher from 1981 to 1997. We received
numerous credible reports th...

50
her home and served alcohol to them. This student noted that the students who participated in
these parties talked open...

51
Jones’ relationships and neither he, nor the Deans with whom we spoke, followed up with any of
the boys identified in t...

52
notes in Jones’ file reflecting performance concerns that had been raised by both students and
parents. However, there ...

53
Donna Armistead
Donna Armistead was a dance teacher at Nichols in the 1980s. We received a credible
first-hand report f...

54
B. Other Credible Accounts of Inappropriate Conduct – Unnamed Faculty
Members
In addition to those credible accounts re...

55
Faculty Member 1
FM 1 was a female teacher who taught at Nichols in the 1980s and 1990s. who, by all
accounts, was youn...

56
as a boy who had had a sexual relationship with FM 1, and told us that the relationship was
“common knowledge” within t...

57
conduct, however – including among teachers and administrators – raises the question of why
they did not act on the rum...

58
Faculty Member 2
FM 2 taught at Nichols throughout the 1980s until he resigned. We received numerous
reports about FM 2...

59
Fraternizing Conduct
As referenced above, we received several reports that FM 2 frequently invited students to
his home...

60
administrators were specifically aware of a particular relationship. Two faculty members
reported hearing that FM 2 had...

61
Faculty Member 3
FM 3 taught at Nichols from 1970 until at least 1990. We received a credible second-
hand report of a ...

62
records indicate that he disciplined FM 3 for an unrelated offense involving the same series of
events, but did not add...

63
Faculty Member 4
FM 4 was a female teacher at Nichols in the 1980s.
FM 4 Victim
A student reported to us that a classma...

64
interviewed reported that they had no knowledge of FM 4 having any relationships with students
during the time that she...

65
Faculty Member 5
FM 5 was a male teacher in the 1980s. One student (FM 5 Victim) told us that FM 5 had
engaged in inapp...

66
On another trip, FM 5 Victim reported that, one night during the trip, while he slept, FM
5 lay next to him, put his ar...

67
his personnel file indicates that his contract was not renewed because of a “projected enrollment
decline” in the Schoo...

68
Faculty Member 6
FM 6 was a female teacher who taught at Nichols several decades ago. FM 6 passed
away many years ago s...

69
Faculty Member 7
FM 7 was a male teacher who taught at Nichols over several decades. According to
multiple individuals ...

70
uncomfortable. Finally, s/he described the “awkwardness” of the boys as they went to the
classroom and the discomfort t...

71
FM 7’s tenure, was aware that FM 7 had male students come to his home for the weekend but
did not know, and did not inq...

72
Faculty Member 8
FM 8 was a teacher at Nichols from the 1950s through the 1970s. We received one first-
hand account of...

73
III. Reflections on Nichols’ Culture
This Report recounts what we believe to be credible accounts of sexual misconduct ...

74
belief that the Nichols of today is a different school from that reflected in the incidents recounted
in this Report – ...

75
School records references to the circumstances surrounding AB Victim 4,
if he completed the requisite professional eval...

76
told him/her that “nothing” was going on. The teacher reported that s/he “backed
off,” felt as though s/he was “the pro...

77
• Most of the faculty with whom we spoke, to the extent they heard anything at all,
heard only speculation. Some heard ...

78
perceived and responded to suspicions of faculty misconduct with students. We recognize that
there has been a developin...

79
Contributing Factors
In reflecting on what we found in this investigation, we have identified some factors
which we bel...

80
ascertain whether the rumors were true.77
Instead, he chose to terminate her employment based
on the performance-relate...

81
teachers from cultivating close relationships with students. We identify this issue simply to note
that the dynamic of ...

82
A related aspect of their limited understanding of appropriate boundaries in student-
teacher relationships was the ina...

83
being believed, or of possible adverse repercussions for questioning the conduct of certain
faculty members. As a resul...

84
for the School to consider that fear of repercussions – whether unfounded or reasonable – kept
some individuals from ra...

85
IV. Conclusion
In conclusion, we wish to acknowledge the courage, passion, thoughtfulness and care
demonstrated by the ...

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